Is West Indies cricket dead ?

[Aidan11]

Interesting article from AOC

http://www.alloutcricket.com/cricket/bl ... re-anymore

[Making_Splinters]

Cracking article by Jarrod Kimber who's rapidly becoming one of my favourite cricket pundits.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015/content/story/844393.html

[andy]

i agree MS great article

[mikesiva]

Here's the dilemma....

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/ ... 73595.html

Darren Sammy is earning US$500,000 a month, compared to US$120,000 a year in all formats for the West Indies.

[Aidan11]

This is a disgrace. Cozier is a commentating legend,


https://rolandbutchershook.wordpress.co ... #more-2509

[mikesiva]

The wicb doesn't tolerate criticism so also banned from wicb endorsed events are....

Michael holding
reds perreira
Colin croft
Kenny Benjamin

[Aidan11]

What a shambles

http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v ... 23519.html

http://rjrnewsonline.com/sports/exclusi ... dies-coach

[mikesiva]

The soap opera continues....

"Phil Simmons has been suspended with immediate effect as West Indies coach, two days after he expressed his unhappiness with the ODI squad selected for the Sri Lanka tour. Simmons was caught unawares by the decision, which was communicated to him in an email from WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead, as he was in the UK preparing to join the squad in London on their way to Sri Lanka. Simmons will now not travel with the team, and former West Indies fast bowler Eldine Baptiste, who is also a national selector, will take up the position of interim coach for the tour of Sri Lanka. The series, which begins on October 14, is the new Test captain Jason Holder's first assignment."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/ ... 24039.html

[Arthur Crabtree]

He was pretty candid. No doubt he has valid complaints, but he seems to have thrown a bomb at the problem. Assuming he has tried to resolve his problems internally (and didn't know about them before his appointment) maybe a 'source close to the team' type leak might have given him more protection, though be less honest. It's not unusual for selectors to overrule a coach, some consider that to be the better way. There is a problem if people beyond selection get involved (as Strauss and Downton appear/ed to have at the ECB) but it isn't really clear what he is saying about that.

[from_the_stands]

The Boxing Day Test might be the last time I get to see the West Indies play.

[mikesiva]

'The indication is that, if the Simmons matter is not "cleared up" within the WICB's deadline of seven days, Baptiste would be ready to take over. It is known that he had initially applied for the job that eventually went to Simmons; his coaching credentials include his time in charge of the Stanford All Stars in their US$20 million victory over England in 2009, a brief period with Kenya, stints in South Africa and with Leeward Islands....He was one of the three selectors, along with Courtney Walsh and Courtney Browne, who thwarted the efforts of Simmons and panel chairman Lloyd to reinstate Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to the ODI squad. His elevation, brief as it may be, strengthens his status in the hierarchy of the West Indies set-up. As he starts from scratch, his relationship with the players is necessarily short of those established by Williams over time and, already, by Simmons....When he took up it up in March it was against a backdrop of widespread optimism. He is a West Indian through and through, down to the strong Trinidadian accent. He was an explosive opening batsman in 26 Tests and 143 ODIs between 1987 and 1999, enhanced his reputation as an allrounder with Leicestershire and, latterly, as coach of Ireland. During his 224 matches in charge over eight years, the Irish were indisputably the strongest of the ICC's Associates, winning 11 trophies, qualifying for every major ICC event and posting notable World Cup victories over Pakistan, Bangladesh, England, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Muirhead welcomed Simmons' arrival, stating he had "proven ability to develop players while cultivating great team spirit and a winning culture". In his first assignment, West Indies, No. 8 in the ICC Test rankings, held England, No. 4, to a 1-1 draw. Five months on, the mood was transformed into doubt and mistrust as Simmons came face to face with the intrigue that has been a constant companion of West Indies cricket in its collapse to the lower levels of the world game it once utterly dominated. It has led to the change of four WICB presidents and five chief executives, the turnover of five captains and the sacking of four coaches and the retirement of another, over the past decade. Now the status of another coach hangs in the balance.'

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 25763.html

[Red Devil]

Is it just me or are the WI board effectively threatening to sack Simmons for telling the truth?

anybody that takes over is either going to have to be part of the clique or is going to struggle big time - however there seems something very rotten with the 'clique' in the first place so all of this does not bode well for WI cricket.

It really is a shame to see it in such a mess - there are clearly still players with talent, but the whole system around them seems to be designed to not produce committed international cricketers.

[mikesiva]

I agree with every word, Red...it seems the WICB can only function when lawyers get involved:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/ ... 25975.html

"Phil Simmons' future as West Indies coach hangs in the balance after the disciplinary hearing against him was deferred to next week. ESPNcricinfo understands that Simmons had been asked to present himself on Saturday in front of a human resources panel from the West Indies Cricket Board. On September 30, the WICB had indicated that Simmons's future would be sorted in a week. Surprised at the lack of notice period given to him, Simmons' lawyers responded to the WICB, saying Simmons could not make himself available without an advance alert and requested the hearing be rescheduled to next week. It is learned that the WICB agreed, but no date has been set yet."

[Aidan11]

Rumours going around that Phil Simmons is about to get his job back.

[Alviro Patterson]

Rumours going around that Phil Simmons is about to get his job back.

As Ireland coach